Acoustic Guitar Recording – The Basics

If you’re doing home recording, one of the main instruments you may be using for accompaniment is the acoustic guitar. Learning the basics of acoustic guitar recording requires time to experiment a bit to find your instrument’s sweet spots for micing, and also understanding some essentials with regard to your guitar and recording environment. We’ll use the most popular dynamic mics that many musicians rely on for gigs, the venerable Shure SM-57 and 58, to show how to get a good recorded sound from your acoustic guitar. We’ll also recommend two affordable condenser mics that can help you take your guitar’s sound to the next level.

Speaking in a 2004 interview, Grammy-winning engineer Richard Dodd, whose credits include a wide range of acoustic guitar-playing artists such as the Dixie Chicks, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Traveling Wilburys, Wilco, and George Harrison stated, “most great rock records have an acoustic guitar even though you may not notice it.” So how do you go about getting your guitar sounding good when you’re making the recording?

Before we head into the studio, there are a few basics that will help you to get the most out of your acoustic guitar. First, be sure to put a fresh pair of strings on the instrument before your recording date. Oxidation occurs normally and deadens the sound of your strings, to the point where your guitar isn’t able to produce the full sound of which it’s capable. Personally, I’m partial to the Nanoweb-coated strings put out by Elixir, because they maintain their new tone longer and seem to produce a bit less finger noise which can become distracting when recording.

Elixir Guitar strings offer a special coating that prolongs that "just new" sound for a long time after restringing.

Next, be sure you are comfortable with your performance location before starting to record. I prefer to record standing up, using a strap, as I feel my posture is more balanced than sitting on a stool. If you’re recording at home, try your living room area, because it offers a mix of absorptive (carpet, furniture, curtains, etc.) and reflective surfaces (walls, windows, ceilings, etc.). I have a reliable tuner handy to quickly confirm intonation between every take, to avoid nailing the perfect performance only to find that my “B” string had gone flat.

Before you get out your microphone and start to experiment, try the technique that many old-school engineers use when sizing up a new acoustic instrument and selecting the best mic and placement. They have someone play the guitar in the studio while covering one ear up and using the other ear like a microphone, moving their uncovered ear around the surfaces of the guitar at a distance of about 18 inches. As you do this, you’ll hear the overall tone and frequency response of the guitar vary quite a bit. Move closer in and farther back to find the spot that offers a good combination of warmth and richness in the lower range, while maintaining some of the sparkle and shimmer that your freshly strung acoustic guitar has. When you find this “sweet spot” note the distance from the guitar body and then get your mic placed as close to that sweet spot as possible.

One final, but very important consideration is to ask yourself just what kind of an acoustic guitar sound will work best on the recording you envision. For instance, a demo featuring a solo voice and guitar would need a full-bodied sound to create a solid base for the vocalist, whereas a dense and heavily produced pop track may only have sonic space for a thinner, jangly-sounding acoustic that provides a little texture amongst the many other instruments making up that recording’s sonic landscape.

In the StudioEngineer Jeff Crawford started our test session with the “one-eared listen.” I was playing Jeff’s Takamine FS360 dreadnought guitar while Jeff evaluated its sound and decided which spots he wanted to mic. We had decided to use two of the most common mics found in any musician’s gig bag, the ubiquitous Shure SM-57 and SM-58, which would probably not be the first choice if you were recording in a top professional studio (most pro studios record acoustics with more expensive condenser mics), but because almost every musician has one or both of the Shure workhorses, it seemed sensible to see just how good a sound we could achieve with them.

We started with the SM-57 directly over the sound hole and about 4 inches away from the guitar face.

Jeff started out with the SM-57, known primarily as the go-to mic for snare, toms, guitar and bass amp micing. He placed the mic over the sound hole; about 4 inches away and we proceeded to record a rhythm guitar part. The sound was full and present, but had a very noticeable increase in the lower frequency range, due to what’s known as the proximity effect, which every dynamic mic has to a greater or lesser degree. The proximity effect boosts sensitivity to bass frequencies more and more the closer the sound source gets to the mic capsule.

Moving the mic back to about 12 inches away from the sound hole evened out the response very effectively.

Local engineer Philip Johnson joined us to provide a third set of ears to evaluate the various mic positions, and after listening back, we all agreed this placement provided too much low end. Next, Jeff moved the mic back about 12 inches from the sound hole. Playing the same part, we got an evenly balanced sound that had plenty of bass, but now had the guitar’s silky mid- and upper-frequencies in equal measure. “It’s pretty much what the guitar itself sounds like in the studio,” said Jeff.

Here the SM-58 is placed just behind the bridge on the guitar's lower bout.

We then placed the mic behind the bridge and about four inches from the soundboard, an area known as the lower bout, favoring the treble strings just a bit. This spot provided only the mid- and upper-midrange frequencies, with a noticeable absence of the higher overtones and missing this guitar’s rich lower range.

Here the mic is placed about 6 inches away from the neck-body joint which enhances the upper frequency range

Finally, we put the 57 up near the spot where the neck and body joined, about 6 inches away and angled slightly toward the guitar body. As expected, we got a much brighter sound that emphasized the upper mid-range of the instrument, but we also picked up a slight boominess from the body. With a little low end EQ cut, this spot might be suitable for that rock track that already has plenty of other instruments in the low end, and that would benefit from a crisp-sounding acoustic filling in between the backbeat.

Next, we switched to the SM-58, a mic designed for live vocals, but occasionally used on other instruments. For some musicians just getting started with home recording, the 58 may be the only mic they own. Compared to the frequency response of the SM-57, the SM-58 doesn’t have quite as much boost in the upper mid-range, since its primary use is as a stage vocal mic.

We decided to use the exact same placements as we had with the 57, and found out that due to the mic’s differing frequency characteristics, the contrasts were noticeable. Starting out just 4 inches in front of the sound hole, we got a sound that was bland and without much character. It was dominated by the guitar’s low end, once again due to the proximity effect. However, there was even less of the mids and highs than with the 57 due to the 58’s built-in windscreen, and its different response curve.

Moving out to the 12 inch spot, we got a more even tonal response, but it was a little dull sounding compared to the 57. Our third test spot, on the lower bout, favoring the guitar’s treble strings, surprised us as it was a pretty complete guitar sound, not as bright as the 57, but definitely usable. Finally, we moved up to approximately 6 inches away from the neck-body joint and found that in this spot, the 58 delivered a pretty good image of the Takamine, but due to the closeness to the neck, we were hearing a lot of string fingering mechanics. The tonal balance was OK, so moving the mic a foot or so away would likely retain the tonal quality but minimize the mechanical sounds to a degree. For a quick solution on the SM-58 the lower bout offered the best bet, followed by some variation in distance and placement on the neck-body joint.

One other option you may test is to try recording using a combination of the mic and your guitar’s internal pickup if it has one. Many acoustics come with a built-in pickup to help with amplification in live settings, and these pickups, depending on their sensitivity, can sometimes enhance a guitar recording. Your internal pickup will usually give its best response when all the tone controls are set flat and the volume is set full on. Pickups tend to deliver a bright sound, so if you’ll also use a mic, you might want to try experimenting with the lower bout position mic and then mix the two sounds sources to get a proper blend between low and high frequencies.

After our test recordings, we got together in the control room to A/B the results of all four positions for each mic. All three of us agreed that for the 57, a foot away and directly in front of the sound hole delivered a clean, rich tone that would be perfect in almost any home recording. For the 58, we got the best results up at the neck-body joint, again, about a foot away. Remember to take the time to test out various positions with your particular guitar, because each instrument will have a slightly different “sweet spot.”

The AT4041 is an all-purpose small diaphragm condenser mic that works well on many acoustic instruments, including the guitar.

As we started packing up, the conversation came back to studio condenser microphones and Jeff offered a few suggestions to consider when the time is right for you to add a higher-quality recording microphone to your home studio, so long as you have the necessary phantom power.

“I’ve had very good results with the A-T 4041 on many acoustic instruments. It’s a small diaphragm cardioid condenser mic that can be used for acoustic instruments and also works very well for drum overheads. It’s really crisp and tracks recorded with it cut through the mix nicely. Another reasonably priced condenser mic is the Studio Projects C-1. It has a large diaphragm, so it’s a bit warmer sounding than the 4010, which is very nice on most vocals and also good for acoustic guitar, and piano.The Studio Projects C-1 is an affordable large diaphragm condenser that can be used on a wide variety of sound sources in the studio, including the guitar and piano, with good results. It will work nicely with any instrument where you are looking for a crisp sound with accurate low end.” (The street price on the 4041 is $299, while the C-1 can be found for $199, including a shock mount.)

Post navigation

10 thoughts on “Acoustic Guitar Recording – The Basics”

I would place a slight caveat on changing guitar strings before a recording session.As basic and as silly as this comment may seem to some ;make sure its not done 15 minutes before the session lol. Guitar strings take time to break in on the instrument and recording time can be frittered away messing with a guitar that keeps going out of tune.Also get there early enough so you can open your case and let the guitar “breathe” and adjust to ambient before attempting to tune.Especially if you’re coming in from a temperature that is markedly different than the studio temperature.

I am so glad that someone recognizes that the c1 is a great mic at a unbelievable price. It has a sheen to the vocals and a dirty warmness, that is really desirabel in comparison to my crystal clear AKG 414. The 414 is so lucid, but the C1 sits better in the mix, especially on vocals. Do your homework in articles an you will find that it will beat the crap out of your tlm 103 and allow you to buy 4 of them instead of just 1.

Word of warning, it is a loud mic. but once you use a good mic pre and probably use the pad, you have a great mic.

If your main instrument is acoustic guitar and/or it’s the prominent instrument in your recordings, it’s totally worth splurging on mics to get a good sound. I have a pair of Neumann KM85’s, which have a built in bass roll-off (about -12dB at 50 Hz), which allows you to close mic an acoustic guitar without the boominess you often get with other mics. I use one aimed around the 15th fret and the other aimed around the soundhole or bridge. I run them through a Drawmer 1960. Yeah, the two mics plus the pre/comp cost me $2K total several years ago, but I love the sound (these days the 2 mics and the pre probably would cost more like $4K total). If you like the ultraclean sparkly sound of “newgrass” or modern folk recordings, maybe it’s not for you. I HATE that sound. I like the KM85’s because I get a sound that sounds like my guitar (a ’73 Guild F45) unadorned. KM85s are hard to find though. I guess you probably could get a very similar sound with KM84s and the right EQ settings.

I used to use Elixir strings, but switched to the D’Addario EXL coated strings because the Elixirs would break the very next day, I could never trust them. I even contacted Elixir and they sent me a bunch of B-strings for free. My guitar was and is ok, and since the switch I’m getting durability and performance at every gig with no worry of popping strings. I haven’t lost one, and I have the set in for at least a month straight with great tone. I’m in no way connected to either company, just a regular user… If you’re having this issue, give the D’Addarios a try.

We love using our MXL condensor and allways play elixir or Cleartone strings. Sometimes we use another mic to capture strumming and hand percussion technics when playing. The MXL mic was inexpensive and works way better than the shure SM57 or 58 in the studio but these two mics are great for micing cabinets horns, drums, and anything else on stage. The studio is a different story all together. Simes

For about $100, I would highly recommend the AT 2020 for acoustic guitar. On my last project, recording at a studio with a large and expensive mic collection, we settled on the modestly priced AT2020. A stereo pair of these would be affordable for most budgets and will give clean, outstanding results when properly placed.